Brands say something ...

When I was a child the German brands were quite common, especially in older equipment. I remember brands such as Grundig (radio and TV) and Bosch for household equipment and we had a Volkswagen car. My parents' generation studied Germany at school, together with English. I believe they preferred to watch Swedish movies and English detective stories.

Today I drive an old Volvo and have some Electrolux equipment that needs to be replace and used to have SonyEricsson phone. I find all kinds of labels like hp, Dell, Philips but also JVC, Acer, Sony etc on our black boxes (maybe it doesn't matter what label there is, since most things are made in low cost countries). The kids watch American high school series, South Park and Simpsons. They think reading Swedish books is a bit of yesterday, but rather buy some English or American ones.

What will the labels of tomorrow be, and who will own them? Will they be Chinese or Russian? Will Swedish companies still be strong in new fields? Will the research at Universities be ambitious when the large companies are sold and moved? Will people start small companies when all private economical protective systems including pension disappear when you start your own company, unless you are able to give yourself a good salary..?